The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine factors that lead to teacher attrition and the role agency plays in it. For the purposes of this study, agency refers to teachers’ capacity to make choices, take principles action, and enact change. A total of 20 former teachers were interviewed to discuss their lived experiences as classroom teachers. The interviews were centered around three research questions: (a) To what extent does teachers’ sense of agency impact the decision to leave the teaching profession? (b) To what extent do working conditions such as evaluations, high-stakes testing, student discipline, salary schedule, narrowed curriculum, and class size impact teachers’ decisions to leave the teaching profession? (c) How does professional autonomy contribute to decisions to leave the teaching profession? Three major themes emerged from the data collected for this study. The three themes were: (a) agency plays a critical role in job satisfaction; (b) working conditions affect stress and happiness; (c) autonomy contributes to teachers’ sense of purpose and fulfillment. Teachers’ sense of empowerment as professionals greatly affects their overall happiness and job satisfaction. The results of this study suggest that allowing teachers more voice and choice in decisions that directly affect them, their workload, and the students they teach can improve morale and build more resilient teachers.
